


Blueberry Pie

by SlytherinSpaceCat



Series: Of small things and big confessions [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: (im so glad i got to include seungmin and jeongin this time), (or me), (sorry), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bang Chan is Whipped, Chan is a mess, Fluff, Fools in Love, Kim Woojin is Whipped, M/M, Slow Burn, and a bit of angst, everyone else is trying to set them up, seungmin is done, so slow you might want to hit them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 17:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21201044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinSpaceCat/pseuds/SlytherinSpaceCat
Summary: Chan had never been one to believe in love at first sight. Love was something that grew. Love at first sight was just attraction, not actual love. But when he’d walked into that new café just outside campus that he and Minho had decided to try out, he’d realised that he might need to rethink his thoughts about love at first sight.-The awaited sequel to Pinky Promise for everyone who wanted to see if Chan would ever manage to ask Woojin out.





	Blueberry Pie

**Author's Note:**

> The awaited woochan sequel to Pinky Promise is finally here! You don't have to read them in order, but it will probably make more sense since this is set after that. This also sorta got out of hand and i had to split it up in two parts (tbh it might be even more, since i haven't finished writing it yet and have no idea how i should end it, heh)
> 
> But for now, enjoy the first part of this mess. I hope it's everything you wished for
> 
> 12h edit: i just got the news about woojin... Im devastated. Im honestly trying hard not to cry on the train to work. Whatever happened, i hope that he is okay. Take care, woojin love
> 
> For those who's wondering if im gonna continue writing this now, we'll see. But probably, with time
> 
> Everyone take care now, okay? If you wanna talk come find me on tumblr @slytherinspacecat

Chan had never been one to believe in love at first sight. Love was something that grew. Love at first sight was just attraction, not actual love. But when he’d walked into that new café just outside campus that he and Minho had decided to try out, he’d realised that he might need to rethink his thoughts about love at first sight.

Because the man behind the counter simply blew him away. He was handsome, but not like an unreachable model ‘I will step on you if you even consider approaching me’ handsome. More like warm and welcoming handsome. Objectively he wasn’t even the most handsome person Chan had ever seen. He’d shared some classes with a guy called Joshua that was so beautiful it seemed like angels were singing when he stepped into a room. Or Brian who worked at the library, when he smiled everyone got a little breathless.

No, but this guy had something else. Something that made Chan feel like he was seeing colours for the first time.

“Earth to Chan,” Minho said behind him, jabbing him unnecessary hard in the side. “Did you finally break?”

“Sorry,” Chan said, stepping to the side to let Minho through the door. “I just…” He couldn’t tear his eyes from the handsome man behind the counter. Minho followed his gaze.

“Oh, I see,” Minho smirked. Chan hated when Minho smirked. It never meant something good.

“No, you see nothing,” Chan said, finally looking away from the barista to glare at Minho instead.

Minho just grinned wider, looking like the Cheshire Cat. “Let’s go and order.” He grabbed Chan’s wrist, dragging him along.

“Oh, look at all the cakes,” Minho said when they stopped in front of the counter. “Do you want cake, Channie?” He only ever called him ‘Channie’ when he was up to no good.

“No, thanks, I think…” Chan started, but a voice interrupted him.

“The blueberry pie is really good.” The voice was soft and rich, with a melodic tone that wrapped itself around Chan’s heart and  _ tugged _ .

Chan looked up and met the barista's eyes. He didn’t wear a name tag, which was a shame. Chan would love to know the name of that voice. “Ah.”  _ Wow, so very eloquent of him. _

“We’ll take two of those then!” Minho chimed in with a shit-eating grin in Chan’s direction. “And two lattes.”

“Coming right up,” the barista said, eyes crinkling in a smile. No one should be allowed to be that pleasant.

“Thank you!” Minho beamed. “Chan, pay.”

“Why do I have to pay?” Chan huffed, but he took out his wallet anyway.

“Because I just did all the talking,” Minho said in a hushed tone, like it was obvious. “I can leave that to you next time, Mr. Eloquent.”

“Fuck off.”

“Will do,” Minho gave him a wink and then twirled away to get a table.

“Wait!” Chan dumbly realised that he would have no choice but to communicate with the handsome barista on his own now.

“Here you go,” the man said, handing over the tray. “You’re paying with card?”

“Yeah,” Chan nodded, holding up his card. The barista's eyes crinkled again, and he made a gesture for Chan to put in his card in the machine. It took him three times before he managed to insert it. He could feel his cheeks burning, but the barista was kind enough to pretend not to notice. 

“Have a nice day,” the man said when Chan after a lot of fumbling had managed to pay. Chan just nodded a thank you and took the tray, quickly leaving for the table where Minho was waiting with a teasing grin. He wasn’t usually bad with words like this. He wrote songs in his free time for goodness sake. He was supposed to be good at this. But it was like his voice had decided that after hearing the soft and melodic voice of the barista, his own voice was nothing in comparison and he should just not speak at all.

“Not a word,” he said to Minho when he sat down by the table.

“Oh, you mean like you?” Minho teased, scooping up a big bite of the pie. “Mmm, this really was a good pie. Handsome Barista over there has good taste.”

“Shut up,” Chan groaned.

“No, I mean it, this pie is really good.” Minho took another bite, humming happily. “I need to take Jisung here so he can try it.”

“I wasn’t talking about the pie.”

“No, and you weren’t talking about anything else either.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

“I definitely do not.”

“Everyone loves me,” Minho insisted. “Now eat your pie, Channie.”

The pie was really good. Chan used that as an excuse to come back here again just a few days later. And then again the next week. And the week after that. But soon he had to realise that the thing that made him go back again and again wasn’t the pie. It was the pair of warm sparkling eyes, the soft smile, and the melodic voice that had imbedded itself around Chan’s heart. He was lost. 

So weeks turned into months. Chan wasn't sure why he kept coming back since he'd yet managed to speak properly in front of the guy. Instead, he'd just embarrassed himself again and again. He should really stop coming back, there was no way the guy was interested in him anyway. A person could only drop the tray or spill coffee on themselves so many times before it stopped being endearing. If it even was endearing to begin with. Chan doubted it. 

"Are you maybe a masochist, hyung?" Felix wondered. 

Chan spluttered. "No?" 

"So you're not sure? Never tried it out?" 

"Why are we talking about this?" Chan whined, hiding his face in his hands. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with the younger. Or with anyone for that matter. 

"I was just wondering since you keep coming back here, even though you mostly just embarrass yourself," Felix said, taking a big slurp of his milkshake. "One starts to question your motives." 

"I am not a masochist." 

"If you say so. Changbin is a little bit of a masochist," Felix said like it was nothing. 

Chan choked. "I didn't need to know that!" 

Felix just shrugged with a grin, like he didn't care that he probably had scarred Chan for life. 

Sometimes Chan wondered how he had ended up here. Then he remembered that it was all Minho's fault. Ever since he'd walked into the wrong lecture and fell asleep next to Minho the other had insisted on becoming his friend. He started to greet him in the hallways, then he began to stop for a chat. At first, it was just to ask him with a teasing smile if he had fallen asleep during any more lectures, but before Chan could even realise it was happening they were friends. 

He later learned that it was Jisung who had encouraged Minho to try to befriend Chan. Minho had apparently never been good at making his own friends, most of them he'd gotten through Jisung. So Jisung wanted Minho to make some friends of his own (that he fully intended to befriend as well of course). Chan slightly felt like he'd gotten stuck in a social experiment. 

But he didn't mind that much. He'd gotten some great friends. Jisung and Changbin both liked to compose and write songs, and they immediately invited Chan to work with them when they learned that he also wrote songs. Felix was like a long lost brother he didn't know that he'd been missing but now he couldn't imagine living without. Hyunjin often came to him for advice and Chan enjoyed their late-night talks. And Minho was Minho. He was annoying and weird, and Chan would never admit it to him, but he considered Minho one of his closest friends and he knew that he could always come to him if needed. 

But lately, he felt like he'd been stuck with all the couples. Felix and Changbin had already been an adorable couple when Chan got to know them. Hyunjin had found a stable boyfriend in Younghoon a few months back (they were all happy for him, Hyunjin had had his fair share of bad relationships and people taking advantage of him. He deserved something stable and a partner who loved him). And just recently Minho had finally gotten his head out of his ass and confessed to Jisung. Not that things were much different now. They had acted like a couple as long as Chan had known them. But now he truly was the single friend. 

And hopelessly pining over a handsome barista. A handsome barista that he realised that Minho now knew. 

"He helped me with my confession to Jisung."

"Then you know his name?" Chan asked hopefully.

"I do." 

"Tell me." He been dying to know the man's name for months. He'd considered asking himself, but it had never felt natural. 

"No." 

"What? Why not? Come on, Minho, please tell me," Chan was not above begging if necessary. 

Minho smirked his Cheshire Cat grin. "That's no fun. Ask him yourself if you want to know." 

Chan soon realised that all of his friends knew the name of Chan's crush. Minho had told Jisung, who had told Felix and Changbin, who had told Hyunjin. But they all refused to tell him. 

"If we tell you, it's just gonna take you even longer to talk to him," Changbin said when Chan complained to him. They were at the gym, he and Changbin had made a deal of working out together. They had asked Minho and Jisung to come as well, but Minho had just laughed. 

"Me, at the gym? Yeah no." 

"I'll come," Jisung had said, which had immediately changed Minho's mind. He couldn't be worse than Jisung. 

So now the two idiots were either busy fighting over who could lift more or making out. Chan and Changbin pretended not to know them.

"But it's so unfair," Chan grumbled. "I just want to know his name. 

Changbin gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "We all had to start somewhere. It's a great conversation starter." 

"Yeah, just start with introducing yourself and then ask for his name," Minho suddenly said, draping a sweaty arm around Chan's shoulders. "Easy peasy." 

"Minho, I'm still firm on not taking relationship advice from you ever," Chan deadpanned. 

"Hey! I'm a great boyfriend. Jisung, tell him, aren't I a great boyfriend?" 

"You're shit," Jisung said immediately, but he still had that stupid fond look he had in his eyes whenever he looked at Minho.

"You're no fun," Minho whined. 

"That's not what you said last night," Jisung winked. 

"We don't want to know!" Changbin screeched, hitting Jisung. "You guys are the worst."

"You have no right to talk after all me and Jisung had to go through when you and Felix started dating," Minho said, pointing at Changbin. 

Chan slowly backed away as they started to compare which couple was the worst. At least they had forgotten his crush for the moment. He thought about what they had said.  _ Just introduce yourself _ . It wasn't that hard. If he wanted to get to know the man he just had to do it. And if he embarrassed himself beyond reason at least he knew that that was it and he would never go back to that café ever again. 

Easy peasy. 

-

"Seungmin, you will never believe what happened at work today!" Woojin slammed the door to their apartment open. 

Seungmin jumped. "What the fuck." 

"Language in front of the child," Woojin chided while removing his shoes and jacket. 

"Jeongin isn't here," Seungmin pointed out. 

"Ah. Well then. You won't fucking believe what happened at work today."

Seungmin gave him an unimpressed look from the floor where he'd spread out his textbooks. "What? The cute guy that probably already has a boyfriend finally managed to say a proper sentence to you?" 

"No," Woojin said, ignoring Seungmin's tone. He shuffled some textbooks away with his foot and then sat down. "But I did find out that he's single. And gay." 

"Woopdiedoo, good for you," Seungmin deadpanned. "Was that all? I have stuff to do." 

"No. Stop being rude," Woojin poked Seungmin's leg with his foot. Seungmin swatted him away. "You know that guy that's usually with Chan?" Woojin had known the guy's name for months since his friends always loudly called him by name. Seungmin called Woojin a creep for remembering. 

"The one we believed was his boyfriend."

"Yes, him. This morning he barged into the café…" 

"Had he figured out that you have the hots for his boyfriend and came to tell you to fuck off?" Seungmin interrupted, finally looking a little bit interested. 

"No, shut up. I told you he was single. Because apparently this guy - Minho - is in love with this other guy and wanted me to help him to confess," Woojin said. 

"I'm sorry what?" 

"I know, I almost said the same thing," Woojin had been so surprised when Minho approached him this morning. 

"So did you do it?" Seungmin even looked a little bit curious. 

Woojin told him all that had happened afterward, with the full confession. It had been one of the sweetest things Woojin had ever seen. He'd also noticed how happy the rest of the gang had seemed for them. They seemed like a great bunch. 

"Wow, are you sure this really happened?" Seungmin said, looking a bit impressed. "It sounds like something straight out of a movie." 

"Well, he did get the idea from Love Actually so." 

"Yeah, don't you think I got that reference?" Seungmin huffed, sounding a little offended. Woojin only patted his knee. 

"But yeah, it was really sweet. I wish someone would woo me like that," Woojin sighed wistfully. And by someone he meant Chan. That guy was crazy cute and he seemed like a great person as well. 

"Yeah, it's quite something…" Seungmin mumbled, looking down. 

Woojin cursed himself. "Sorry, Minnie, didn't mean to bring up painful memories." 

Seungmin managed a weak smile. "It's okay. Most things remind me of him anyway. It's not like it matter." 

"Still. Sorry," Woojin said, squeezing Seungmin's knee. "Have you had dinner?" 

"Not yet."

"Okay, I'll make us pancakes," Woojin smiled, getting up. "Is Jeongin coming over today?" 

"If I tell him you're making pancakes he'll be here in a flash," Seungmin managed a smile that actually looked genuine. "Should I tell him?" 

"Tell him. Otherwise, he'll probably only have ramen for dinner," Woojin said. He'd been quite fond of the younger since Seungmin first brought him home. They weren't even roommates at the time, but Seungmin had always considered wherever Woojin lived home. 

Woojin and Seungmin had met when Woojin was sixteen and Seungmin was thirteen. Seungmin's family had moved in next door to Woojin’s, and they had met when Seungmin had been standing outside his door, seemingly unwilling to go inside. They had started talking, and even if Seungmin hadn't really said anything about it, Woojin had sensed that something wasn't right. So he invited Seungmin over, and continued doing so until the younger felt comfortable in coming over whenever he needed it. 

When Woojin had moved away to university he'd been worried over leaving Seungmin alone. But Seungmin was older and had become better at looking after himself. Somewhere during those years when Woojin was away, Seungmin had picked up Jeongin, and Woojin had quickly adopted him as well. The younger probably brought out the best in both Woojin and Seungmin. 

"Where's my pancakes?" Jeongin didn't even bother to knock when he arrived at their place twenty minutes later. "I was promised pancakes!" 

"Relax, young one, you'll get your pancakes," Woojin said, looking out from the kitchen. "Help me set the table first." 

"Okay, Woojin-hyung!" 

Dinner was nice. Woojin got to tell Jeongin about his crazy day, and Seungmin seemed happy again. Woojin really loved his little mismatched family. 

Woojin had never imagined he would be working in a café. It had nothing to do with his education. But it was nice. He had fun colleagues and the guests were pleasant most of the time. 

And then there was Chan. Woojin had noticed him straight away when he stepped into the café for the first time. He'd stood out among his other customers, with his soft look and shy smiles. Woojin had at the time thought that  _ yeah, cute boy, and that's probably his boyfriend _ . And that he wasn't going to see them again (they did have a lot of customers). 

But then Chan had kept coming back, usually with the one Woojin now knew was Minho. And Woojin could help but to keep noticing him. 

Chan was a little bit of a mess, always fumbling with his card, tripping over his feet, or dropping the things he had in his hands. But he also had a loud laugh, and a caring touch with his friends. When he didn't have any friends with him to the café he sat with either his laptop or textbooks, and then he always had a frown of concentration. Woojin had also noticed that Chan seemed to have a permanent look of too little sleep. That worried him. 

The bell over the door rang and Woojin looked up. Speaking of the devil. 

Chan's blond locks were hidden under a black beaning today, and even if he still looked tired, he had a look of determination in his eyes that Woojin hadn't seen before. That made him a bit curious. 

"Hello," he greeted with a smile. "What can I get you today?" 

Chan seemed to falter a bit, his cheeks dusted pink. Woojin had noticed that Chan often blushed around him, and since Minho had told him that Chan was single Woojin had started to wonder if it maybe meant something. 

"A latte," Chan said, and then quieter, "And a blueberry pie." 

"Coming right up," Woojin smiled. He wondered if today was the day he finally said something more to Chan. He turned around to fix the latte. 

"I'm Chan!" Chan suddenly blurted behind him. Woojin turned around, surprised. Chan was blushing properly now. "I mean, my name is Bang Chan." 

Woojin almost responded with  _ I know _ . His heart made a little happy jump. "Hi, Chan." 

"Wh-what's your name? 

"I'm Kim Woojin," Woojin said, holding out his hand over the counter. Chan took it. His hand was cold, but the handshake was firm. "Nice to finally have a name on my favourite customer." Chan didn't need to know that Woojin had known his name for months. Seungmin had a point in that being a bit creepy. 

Chan spluttered. "I'm… your favourite customer?" His eyes widened. "Wait, don't answer that." 

Woojin laughed. It was endearing how flustered Chan was. "Well, you're here almost every other day so." 

"You noticed? Wait, you don't have to answer that either," Chan said quickly. 

Woojin snorted. "Here's your latte and pie." He handed the tray to Chan. "Don't drop it," he added with a wink. 

He'd thought it would be impossible for Chan to turn redder, but he was proved wrong. 

"I won't," he stuttered out, quickly turning away and almost tripping on his feet. "I'm okay!" He gave Woojin a sheepish smile over his shoulder before he shuffled over to a table. 

Over the next few hours, as Chan sat there working, they caught each other looking over more than once. When their eyes met Chan would blush and Woojin would give him a sheepish smile. It was nice, in Woojin's opinion. 

-

"I did it!" Chan slammed the door to Minho and Jisung's apartment open, not bothering to knock. Too late he realised that that might be a stupid idea now when the two of them were dating. "Please be decent!" 

Both Minho and Jisung looked up from their sofa, giving Chan a matching  _ are you stupid- _ look. Jisung had his head in Minho's lap, but both of them were fully dressed and seemed to be just chilling together. 

"Don't give me that look," he told them, kicking off his shoes. "I'm still traumatized since I walked in on Felix and Changbin."

"Maybe you should start knocking before entering people’s homes?" Jisung suggested, lowering his head back into Minho's lap. 

"Also, Changbin told me about that, they were still fully dressed, just making out," Minho pointed out. 

"Felix was in Changbin's lap. It was bad enough," Chan said firmly. 

Minho and Jisung shared a look. Chan hated when the shared a look. They'd always had this uncanny ability to talk to each other without using their words. 

"Anyway, what brings you screaming to us this fine evening?" Jisung asked. 

"I did it," Chan repeated, still not quite believing that he had managed to do it. 

"Did what? We're not mindreaders," Minho said. 

"I introduced myself to Woojin. And asked for his name." Chan had repeated the way Woojin had smiled at him as he introduced himself for the last couple of hours. He felt all giddy. 

"Oh my god!" Minho exclaimed, gently lifting Jisung's head out of his lap so he could jump up and slap Chan on the arm. "I'm so proud of you!" 

"Ouch," Chan said, but he was grinning. "Thanks." 

"Our Chan is getting so big," Jisung said, pretending to wipe away a tear. 

"I'm three years older than you, Jisung," Chan deadpanned. 

Jisung just waved his hand dismissively. "Details." 

"Tell us everything," Minho demanded, pushing Chan down in the sofa, before squeezing himself down next to Jisung, wrapping himself around him. 

Chan told them about what had happened at the café. Going into detail about how Woojin had acted. 

"He winked at you? Damn, he got game," Minho said, sounding a bit impressed. 

"Do you think he likes me too?" Chan said, trying not to get his hopes up. 

"Duh," Jisung said. "The guy was totally flirting with you." 

"What if he just was being friendly?" Chan couldn't help but ask. "Maybe he treats all his customers that way?" 

Minho and Jisung shared a look again. "Yeah no," Jisung said. "I've talked to Woojin once, and sure, he was friendly, but not like that." 

"Don't sell yourself short," Minho added. "You're a catch." 

"No, I'm not," Chan protested. He was a mess most of the time, stuck in his own head and working too much to keep himself distracted from his own mind. He would by no means call himself a catch. 

"Yes, you are. You're kind and caring, with the patience of a saint," Jisung said. "I mean, you haven't even punched Minho yet." 

"True. It's been tempting though," Chan nodded. Minho just looked offended. 

"And here I was, just about to compliment your looks, but not anymore," Minho huffed, hiding his face away against Jisung's back. 

Jisung only smiled fondly at him, patting his hair. Then he turned back to Chan. "Then I'll do it instead." 

"Traitor," Minho grumbled. Jisung ignored him. 

"You're also attractive, no one would say no to that ass," he continued, gesturing at Chan. 

Chan could feel himself blush. He let out an unsure laugh. 

"You're too modest," Jisung poked him with his foot. "Handsome Barista was definitely flirting with you. He obviously knows a catch when he sees one." 

"Thank you," Chan said, feeling a wave of gratefulness for Jisung. And Minho he guessed. 

"Now you just need to woo him." Minho popped his head up from behind Jisung's back. "I still think you should serenade him. You have a great voice." 

"I'm mostly rap," Chan reminded him. 

"Then rap. Changbin did that," Minho said with a shrug. Jisung snickered. 

"No." 

"Do you have a better plan?" 

"I was thinking I could try to get to know him like a normal person," Chan said firmly. 

"Boring," Minho booed. 

"You because you went all Love Actually over Jisung doesn't mean we all gonna do that," Chan pointed out. Jisung actually blushed a bit. Well, wasn't that adorable. 

"Just proving that I'm better at romance than you," Minho puffed out his chest. 

"You served me burnt toast for breakfast this morning," Jisung said. 

"At least I try," Minho pouted, leaning his chin on Jisung's shoulder and pulling him a little closer. 

"That you do," Jisung said fondly.

"You guys are a mess," Chan said. "Adorable, but still a mess." 

"Thank you," they said together, grinning like two idiots. 

When Chan went home later he kept replaying how Woojin had called him his favourite customer, how he obviously had noticed Chan, and then how he had winked. Chan almost squealed of happiness. He felt like a giddy teenager.

Chan had decided not to go back to the café the very next day. He didn't want to come off as desperate or too much. But the longer the day went on, he could feel his resolution waver. He couldn't focus on anything, the only thing he wanted was to see Woojin again.

"Earth to Bang Chan," Changbin said, nudging his shoulder a little harder than was necessary. 

"What?" he said, looking up from the computer, which he realised he'd been staring blankly at. 

"Is something wrong?" Jisung asked, a frown between his eyebrows. The three of them were in one of the campus studios, working on their latest song. 

Chan smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. My mind was elsewhere. I'm fine." 

Jisung and Changbin shared a look. "Could it possibly be that you were thinking of a certain barista?" Changbin grinned. Jisung had filled Changbin in on what had happened the day before. 

"Have you been there today?" Jisung said with curious excitement. 

"No," Chan said truthfully. 

"Why not?" Jisung exclaimed, and Chan could almost hear Minho in his voice, which was just a tad scary. 

"I don't want to seem desperate." 

Changbin huffed. "That's stupid. You need to use your momentum now." 

"Yeah," Jisung agreed. "Besides, it's not like you can focus on anything else anyway." 

"Sorry." 

"Let's go to the café now!" Jisung jumped up, pulling Chan with him. 

"But our work…" Chan tried to protest.

"Sorry to say so, hyung, but you've been staring blankly at the computer since we got here," Changbin didn't look sorry at all. He was actually grinning. "So we might as well call it a night and try to get you laid instead."

Chan spluttered at that. "I'm not trying just to get laid!" 

"We know. Otherwise, we would've tried to drag you to a club or something," Jisung said while pushing Chan out of the studio. "You getting laid is just a bonus to getting a boyfriend." 

In the end, Chan had no saying in if they would go to the café or not. Jisung and Changbin happily pulled him along, completely ignoring his kind of weak protests. 

"Yo, Woojin-hyung!" Jisung greeted when they entered the café. 

"Hyung?" Chan hissed. Jisung ignored him.  _ Typical.  _

"Good that you're still here, we were afraid we'd missed you," Jisung continued, dragging Chan up to the counter. 

"Hello," Woojin said, an amused glint in his eyes. "I'm still here as you could see. What can I do for you tonight?" 

"I want a chai latte," Jisung said. "And by the way, have you met Changbin?" Jisung pointed at Changbin, finally letting go of Chan. 

"No, I don't think I've had the pleasure," Woojin reached out a hand to shake Changbin's. 

"But I heard that you made acquaintance with Chan over here just recently," Jisung added with a smug grin. Chan wanted to die. 

"I did." Woojin looked like he tried his best not to laugh. He turned his smile to Chan who immediately felt weak in the knees. "Hi, Chan." 

_ Yeah, just kill him already _ . 

"Hi," he managed. Over Changbin's cackling laugh a loud snort could be heard from somewhere to the left. Chan glanced over to see two guys who immediately hid their heads behind their textbooks when he looked, but he could still see their shoulders shaking from laughter. When he turned back to Woojin he saw him glaring unapproving at the two guys. 

"Anyway, what can I give you tonight?" Woojin smiled, pretending that that hadn't just happened. 

The somehow managed to place their orders. As soon as Jisung had the latte in his hand he took up his phone. "Oh, I need to go."

Chan gave him a suspicious look. "Why?" 

"Minho wants me home. He has a surprise for me apparently," Jisung said, pocketing his phone again. 

"Ew, we don't want to know," Changbin made a face. Jisung glared at him. 

"Didn't you need to go as well?" Jisung said very pointedly. Chan's suspicions rose. 

"Um, oh, yeah!" Changbin said a little bit too loud. The person to the left snorted again. "Felix wanted me to come home early tonight to…" He faltered, looking at Jisung. 

"Destroy you in his new video game," Jisung filled in effortlessly. 

"You're a terrible liar, Changbin," Chan said accusingly. 

"Bye, hyung!" Jisung waved, dragging Changbin with him. 

"You have interesting friends," Woojin commented. He looked highly amused. 

"They're the fucking worst," Chan said firmly. He was so going to have a word with those two later. They weren't discreet at all. Woojin laughed at that. 

"I didn't think I would see you today," Woojin leaned forward on his forearms over the counter. 

"I hadn't planned on coming here today," Chan found himself answering truthfully. 

"Shame," Woojin's eyes glittered in the soft light of the café. "I'm glad you did though."

Chan could feel himself blushing. "Yeah, me too." He met Woojin's eyes and his heart made a loud  _ ba-dum.  _ Woojin had a soft smile on his lips and the look he gave Chan was so warm that Chan felt like he was melting. 

Suddenly the bell of the door rang behind them. Chan jumped, tearing his eyes from Woojin. He looked behind him and saw a whole gang if girls entering. 

"I should probably go," Chan said reluctantly. "You have customers, and I didn't bring anything with me to do." 

Chan hoped that he wasn't imagining things, but Woojin looked almost a little bit disappointed. "Okay. See you soon?" 

"See you soon," Chan confirmed with a smile. 

"Goodnight, Chan," Woojin smiled. Chan's heart did the thing where it skipped several beats again. 

"'Night." He left with a little wave that he immediately regretted. But he felt lighter. Happier. He was still going to scold Jisung and Changbin for leaving him, but he might have to thank them as well. 

-

As soon as Chan had left Seungmin and Jeongin broke down laughing. Woojin tried to ignore their wheezing as he served the group of girls, but as soon they also had left he went over to their table. 

"Hi," Seungmin squawked in what Woojin guessed was a poor imitation of Chan. He and Jeongin fell into another fit of laughter. Woojin glared at them. 

"You guys are the two least discreet people I know." 

"No, the two least discreet people probably ever are Chan's two friends," Seungmin pointed out. Jeongin snickered. 

"Okay, you have a point there." Those two, especially Jisung, had been completely shameless. 

"They practically threw Chan at you," Seungmin said, shaking his head. 

"He's cute though," Jeongin said. The youngest hadn't had the fortune to see Chan yet. Seungmin, on the other hand, had seen Chan several times, as he also enjoyed studying in the café (Woojin suspected that he mostly enjoyed the free coffee Woojin was kind enough to give him). 

"He is," Woojin agreed wholeheartedly. 

Seungmin rolled his eyes. "And he finally managed to speak a full sentence to you without stuttering."

Woojin swatted him. Jeongin snickered. Woojin swatted him too just for good measure. 

Jeongin gave him a pout before he suddenly looked cheeky. "You need to ask him out."

"Yeah, you haven't got a partner in forever," Seungmin agreed. "Plus, you already seem to like him a lot." 

"Go for it, hyung!" Jeongin said encouragingly. 

Woojin would really like to get to know Chan better, but… 

"I don't know. I don't think I would have the time for a boyfriend." He glanced at Seungmin, who of course caught it. 

"No, don't give me that look," Seungmin said firmly. He crossed his arms. "You're not allowed to not date for my sake." 

"I…" Woojin started but Seungmin interrupted him. 

"I know that look. I don't want your pity. I want you to be happy." As an afterthought, he added, "Hyung." 

They glared at each other until Woojin sighed. He was honestly worried about Seungmin and didn't want to do anything that could trigger bad memories. "Seungmin…" 

"No," Seungmin interrupted again. "I'm  _ fine _ ." Jeongin squeezed his arm, frown between his eyebrows as he looked up at Woojin. 

"Okay," Woojin gave in. 

"Good," Seungmin nodded, placing a hand over Jeongin's to calm him. "Now ask that boy out. For me." 

Woojin gave him a small smile. "Anything for you, Seungmin-ah." 

"Good," Seungmin nodded. "Then I want another latte."

"Oh, I also want one! A vanilla latte!" Jeongin added, raising his hand. 

Woojin snorted. The nerve of these kids. But he gave them what they wanted anyway. How could he say no. 

He didn't ask Chan out straight away. Even though he saw Chan several times the next days, he came by the café almost every day. Some days he was alone, either in for a quick take away-coffee, or he sat there for hours working. Other days he had one of his friends with him. But the timing never felt right. One day the whole gang more or less fell in through the door. 

"Woojin!" Minho greeted happily, tangling himself from Hyunjin, Jisung and Changbin who were fighting to get through the door first. Chan and Felix stood behind then, looking like they wish they didn't know them. Everyone else in the café was looking at them as well. Woojin could see how Seungmin looked up from behind his book, before shaking his head like  _ unbelievable  _ and then continued reading. 

"Hello," Woojin greeted, not even bothering hiding his amusement. He caught Chan's eyes and, feeling brave, gave him a wink. To the side Seungmin made a disgusted noise, apparently watching them again. Woojin ignored him. 

"What brings you all here today?" 

"It's Chan's birthday!" Hyunjin said happily, bringing Chan up to the front of the group. Chan's ears were red, but he was smiling. Woojin had been introduced to all of them by now. The only one he hadn't been introduced to was Hyunjin's boyfriend, who he noticed was missing. 

"Really?" Woojin said, looking at Chan who nodded. "Happy birthday." 

"Thank you." Chan's smile was so bright Woojin felt something swell in his chest. He could almost feel Seungmin rolling his eyes at them. 

"So we thought we'd bring him to his favourite café to celebrate," Jisung said, looking far to smug for someone who was supposed to be celebrating a friend’s birthday. 

"Also because I wasn't allowed to throw him a party," Minho pouted. 

"Yeah, we're not going to repeat what happened last year," Chan said firmly, sounding like they'd had this conversation many times before. 

"Last year was not my fault, that was solely on Bambam, and he isn't even in the country at the moment," Minho protested. 

Woojin gave Chan a questioning look. Chan just shook his head like  _ you don't want to know _ . 

"So, what can I give you today?" Woojin said before Minho had a chance to continue. Chan gave him a grateful look. 

They quickly all gave their orders, everyone pitching in to pay for Chan, who tried to protest. 

"Don't be stupid, hyung, it's your birthday" Felix said, pushing Chan away. 

"You can take a seat, I will come out with everything for you," Woojin said. 

"Thanks, hyung!" Woojin just smiled at their enthusiasm. 

He had to go two times to bring everything to them. They hadn't held back, buying almost a bit of everything. There was one thing though… Woojin considered it for a moment before he put the dessert on the tray as well and went to their table before he could change his mind. 

"And here's your desserts," he said, putting the plates down on the table. "This is on the house." He placed the blueberry pie in front of Chan, suddenly feeling a bit bashful for some reason. 

Chan looked up at him with a confused look. "It's from me," Woojin clarified. "Happy birthday." 

The rest of the group made a collective squeal. In the corner of his eye, Woojin could see Minho hitting Jisung with excitement and Felix was practically bouncing.

Chan on the other hand immediately turned red, looking as bashful as Woojin felt." Thank you," he said. They gave each other a shy smile. 

"I should…" Woojin made a vague gesture towards the counter. He gave the group a last nod before he walked away as fast as he could without it seeming weird. He caught Seungmin's eyes on the way back, the younger mouthing  _ smooth _ . Woojin gave him a glare that he hoped translated to  _ shut up _ . Seungmin just snickered and hid his face behind his book again. Woojin wished he could've done that without Seungmin there as a witness. He was never gonna hear the end of it now. 

His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. He hadn't had a problem with flirting with Chan before, but this had somehow felt more like a confession. He didn't dare to turn around and look at the group, but he could hear them hollering, and the sound of someone dying. Presumably Chan. 

"You look like an idiot standing there smiling." 

Woojin quickly changed his face to a scowl, glaring at Seungmin who looked way too cheeky for Woojin's liking. 

"Shut up." 

"Oh, I'm never shutting up about this. You basically confessed to him with a piece of pie," Seungmin smirked. "I can't wait to tell Jeongin." 

"You are the worst," Woojin started, he had quite a few things to say to the younger, but a voice interrupted him. 

"Woojin-hyung, do you have any napkins?" Hyunjin said, looking like he was about to burst out laughing. "Chan spilled his coffee right after you left." 

Seungmin snorted. "Oh, sorry," Hyunjin said, noticing Seungmin. "Didn't mean to interrupt. Are you a friend of Woojin-hyung?" 

Seungmin gave Hyunjin a once over. "No," he said before turning away and going back to his table. Hyunjin just looked confused. 

"Don't mind him, he's moody at best," Woojin said, pulling out a pile of napkins and holding them out for Hyunjin. "Here." 

"Thanks!" Hyunjin beamed, but he cast one last curious glance at Seungmin before he went back to his table, dumping the napkins on Chan's head. 

It was a little over a week later went Minho and Jisung came to the café again - without Chan. Chan had already made his now daily visit. They were slowly getting to know each other, but none of them had mentioned the pie incident on Chan's birthday. Woojin had yet to ask him out either, even though he was fairly certain that Chan was interested in him too. But still, the timing never felt right. And Chan didn't bring it up either. 

So Woojin was a little surprised to see just Minho and Jisung entering, fingers intertwined and Jisung sipping on a coffee from another shop. 

"You dare come into my café, with coffee from another," Woojin said, crossing his arms before Minho or Jisung got a chance to say anything. 

Jisung smiled sheepishly, trying to hide the cup behind his back. 

"It was the only way to get him to leave the studio and come with me," Minho explained. 

"So your charm wasn't enough, huh," Woojin teased. After all the times Minho had teased Chan, Woojin felt like he could give back some of it. 

Minho gasped, looking offended. Jisung snickered. "And here I thought you were my friend?" Minho said, placing a hand over his heart. 

Woojin just shrugged. Jisung gave him a high five over the counter. Minho glared at them both. 

"I've changed my mind, you're not invited to my party anymore," Minho huffed. "None of you." 

"Aw, come on, Minnie," Jisung said, snaking his arms around Minho's waist, kissing him on the cheek. "You're very charming." Woojin could practically see Minho melting in Jisung's arms. 

"What party?" he asked, his interest peaked. 

"Only the most awesome party ever," Minho said, clearly already forgotten that he was supposed to be offended. "Aka my combined birthday/Halloween party. Here." He reached over a handmade invitation card. It looked like a preschooler had made it. 

"Thank you," Woojin said, taking the card. The party was the next weekend. He was a little surprised to be invited to be honest. 

"So, can you make it?" Minho asked, looking expectantly at Woojin. 

"I think I actually work that day…" Woojin said, feeling a little bit disappointed for some reason. 

"You can come after your shift ends! You don't have to be there when it starts, no one else will be anyway." Minho waved his hand. 

When Woojin hesitated, Jisung added: "Chan will be there." 

Woojin gave him a flat look. He should've guessed that they were just trying to set them up. 

"Aw, come on, hyung," Jisung said. "We all know that you're interested in each other. You gave him pie on his birthday."

"How do you know that I don't give pie to all my customers on their birthday?" 

"Would you give pie to Minho on his birthday?" 

"No." 

Minho squawked, while Jisung spread his hands like,  _ case closed _ . Woojin just shook his head, slightly amused. 

"And besides, we do want you there for you as well, not just so Chan could hopefully get laid eventually," Jisung added. At that Woojin snorted, while simultaneously trying to stop his brain from going  _ there _ . 

"Yeah, sure, I'll come," he said, pocketing the invitation. It could be fun. And he did want to meet Chan outside the café. Maybe that was what they needed to move forward. 

And it was kind of worth it just to see Minho and Jisung's excited smiles. 

"Oh, and since it's a Halloween party we expect you to come in costume," Minho grinned, and Woojin got a feeling that Minho had planned something. "Also, Chan let me help him with his costume, so be prepared." 

_ Be prepared _ had never sounded as ominous before. Woojin suddenly regretted agreeing to go. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Tell me your favourite bits, your thoughts, or just come scream at me over how slow it's going in the comments. It will 100% make my day, no matter how long or short the comment is. 
> 
> Like i said in the beginning i haven't finished writing this mess yet, and i have no idea when i'll post the next chapter. It probably won't be until december bc november means nanowrimo, which means i won't have time to write on my fanfics. 
> 
> So, see you in a couple of weeks. Thanks for reading, you guys are the best xoxo


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